Send tips/talk to abner@9to5mac.com or @technacity (open DMs).
Abner Li has worked at 9to5Google since 2015 and in late 2020 took on the role of editor-in-chief. He is keenly focused on tracking what happens at Google, and is often the first to spot new features in Google’s ever-growing family of applications that are updated on a daily basis, including Search, Assistant, Maps, Workspace, Android, Chrome/OS, Wear OS, and YouTube Music.
To him, what Google does greatly impacts the technology space and modern life. Inside the company, he is particularly interested in the key products mentioned above, as well as services like Google Podcasts and Google Lens. Each are massive platforms that can be unwieldy to grasp, with Abner keenly bent on understanding their philosophy and future direction. He is most excited about Google’s plans for augmented reality glasses.
Abner spearheads the APK Insight program at 9to5Google to chronicle all changes in the company’s Android apps, often finding new features before they are officially announced. This includes redesigns and revamps, launches, and new products.
A big area of interest is Google’s hardware division, including Pixel, Fitbit, and Nest. He detailed all of the Pixel 3’s camera features before launch and scooped the 2nd-generation Nest Hub’s Soli-powered Sleep Sensing capability, including how it would integrate with Google Fit.
Recently, Abner detailed the Pixel Watch’s specs in full before launch, including bands and pricing. He also got wind of the Pixel Tablet’s ultimate form factor.
For the past year, the Australian government has been readying legislation that forces tech companies to pay local publishers for content that appears in Search and News. If the new law passes, Google today said it would have to pull Search from Australia.
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One of X’s more well-known projects used balloons to deliver internet service to areas that lack existing network infrastructure. Alphabet announced today that it was shutting down Loon given difficulties commercializing the effort.
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While we’re now three weeks into 2021, Fitbit today just sent out its 2020 year in review. It’s quite straightforward with the now-Google company telling users of their most active day and total counts for the last 12 months.
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The Inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was always going to be a momentous occasion, but it saw the unexpected creation of a truly delightful meme involving Senator Bernie Sanders sitting down. A fun meme generator, powered by Google Maps Street View, lets you have Bernie Sit down anywhere in the world.
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Weezer today released the lead single off their upcoming album, OK Human. The music video for “All My Favorite Songs” features a surprising number of Google Pixel 5 devices in what’s presumably a promotion.
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Google is updating Calendar on the web with basic offline viewing functionality. This joins Gmail, Drive, and Docs/Sheets/Slides, though the new feature is currently only for Google Workspace accounts.
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With the launch of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL in 2018, Made by Google also released a pair of USB-C earbuds for $29.99. After two years on sale, the Pixel USB-C earbuds are no longer available for purchase from the Google Store.
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Ahead of his term ending, President Trump late this evening issued 143 clemencies. One of the pardons was for Anthony Levandowski, who was convicted of stealing Google’s self-driving technology before departing for Uber.
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On the first of this year, Google Cloud Print shut down after 10 years. An associated capability that lets users print a PDF copy of a web page and have that file automatically upload to Google Drive was also supposed to be deprecated. However, the feature is now living on in the ‘Save to Google Drive’ Chrome extension.
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A minor update to YouTube TV for Android today sees Google change the app name to “YT TV.” Additionally, the Android/Google TV app icon has also been ever so slightly tweaked.
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With some distance from the holidays, Google is bringing back a popular deal where new Fi subscribers can get the Pixel 4a 5G for $299. Meanwhile, existing MVNO members can get the phone for $100 off.
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Following version 87’s release on Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux, the next release of Google’s browser is rolling out. Chrome 88 kicks off the new year with a flurry of changes.
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One way to boost the adoption of Google Chat is by making it available directly in the email tab that users likely already have open. The Gmail web client now lets you resize the Google Chat and Rooms side widgets.
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When searching, Google lets you categorize web results by Images, News, Shopping, etc. and offers two “Tools.” Google Search’s ability to filter by precise time, specifically setting your own “Custom range,” is currently broken in a rare bug.
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Ahead of the annual BETT education show, HP is announcing new Chromebook revisions geared for students and teachers. The focus is primarily on affordability and ruggedness, but one in particular — the HP Chromebook x360 11 G4 — does stand out.
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CES 2021 saw a handful of Chromebooks, and the announcements are continuing at the BETT education show. Acer has four new devices with the Snapdragon 7c-powered Chromebook 511 leading the pack.
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Following the Fitbit acquisition closing last week, Google now owns two smartwatch platforms. While the timing might be purely coincidental, the Wear OS app today pushed a survey asking users about their satisfaction with Wear OS.
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In May 2018, Pocket Casts was acquired by NPR, WNYC Studios, WBEZ Chicago, and This American Life. That consortium of “top podcast producers” is now looking to sell the Android, iOS, and web application.
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Back in June, Google made its energy saving tuning program available to all Nest Thermostat owners after previously restricting to certain partner public utilities. The wider availability of Seasonal Savings is continuing this winter with Nest Thermostats starting to show the prompt.
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YouTube Music is now Google’s only song streaming service after Play Music was deprecated last year, though transfers are still available. A small tweak sees YouTube Music being prominently advertised on the YouTube.com sidebar.
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This week we recap everything announced by Samsung today at the Galaxy S21 event from the trio of phones to new earbuds and a tracker. We then highlight the top things announced at an otherwise quiet CES 2021.
Alphabet Scoop is available on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castro, Pocket Casts, Overcast, and through our dedicated RSS feed.
With the launch of Hitman 3 on Stadia next week, State Share is officially debuting. Ahead of that, Google today showed off how the feature works while revealing that it’s coming to the entire trilogy.
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Besides the intended differences, web browsers based on Chromium offer an underlying experience that’s mostly identical to Chrome. Google recently discovered that users of third-party Chromium browsers have inadvertently been able to access data and other sync features reserved for Chrome.
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Google told Fi subscribers last year that classic Hangouts would no longer support texting or calling in January. A week before the deadline, Google has pushed back that deadline for MVNO subscribers to March.
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